Yellowstone: Day Three

Monday, June 20

Eleven and a half hours!!! That is how long we spent in the car driving the northern loop of the park!  In reality, we were probably only in the car about eight and a half of those hours but any way you slice it, it was a long day for both Hunter and momma!

We left the house at 7:30 and headed straight to the Bear and Wolf Discovery Center in West, Yellowstone.  In the lobby, Hunter noticed all the stuffed bears and at that point decided he was looking at a bunch of dogs.  (He has a sound that he makes for his dogs at home and  that was the same sound he made when he pointed at the stuffed bears.)  Once we made it outside to the live animals, it took him a minute to find the grizzlies in the enclosure but once he did he started screeching out his word for dog again.  His facial expressions were priceless!  We then headed over to the wolves and he was just as interested, and they were equally interested in the tiny morsel on the other side of the glass.

This feels different than my dogs!

What is it exactly?

That little boy looks like a mighty fine morsel!

The older kids are willing to do anything for their little cousin!

Love my cousin T!

In the Discovery Center gift shop

Around 10:00 we left the Discovery Center and headed into the park for the day.  We made several stops along the way to Mammoth Hot Springs which was the half way point and subsequently the lunch stop at about 2:00 that afternoon.  As long as we got out about every hour to hour and a half, Hunter really did pretty well for being cooped up in a car all day.

Our first stop on the way to Mammoth Hot Springs

Painted Pots

Papa

Painted Pots

Painted Pots

Finally made it to Mammoth and are stopping for a bite to eat.

Which Greek God do I look like to you?

Giving my bear a little 'sugar'!

Crawling around the local hotel!

The elk come right into town each day!

Hot Springs

Nana, Tristan and Hunter getting ready to load up again!

Hot Springs

Breathtaking scenery!

We finally made it home about 7:00 and Hunter was so excited to be able to crawl around for a bit before bedtime.  He stayed up later than he should have but the need for some exercise trumped the desire to go straight into bed after that many hours in the car.

Once he was down for the night, the family decided to play with a feature on Joe's new iPad.  No need for an explanation, the pictures explain it all!

Dear Hunter,

You are such a trooper!  Eleven and a half hours in a car for an adult is a difficult task and you did it at nine months old and were still smiling when we made it back to the house that night.  We saw many beautiful things today including a grizzly and black bear.  You finally saw the buffalo on the side of the road which you were pretty excited about but not quite sure what to call it because it didn't fit into your cat or dog categories.  We have decided that it is time to take you to the zoo based on how much you enjoyed the discovery center so you can see all kinds of new animals.

Loving you more each day,
Mommy and Daddy